But a postage increase of 30 cents per issue was bound to eat up revenue, Hartman said. And when she learned within a day of hearing about the postage increase that one of the major store chains where the magazine is distributed would stop selling the magazine within a few months, Hartman decided to end the magazine’s 32-month run.

Hartman announced the magazine’s closure in a welcome letter at the beginning of this month’s issue.

“I’m very sad. It’s been a labor of love,” Hartman said.

About 25 to 35 people were needed to write, edit, sell advertising and take photographs for each issue, Hartman said. No one was laid off from the magazine, though, because every person who worked for the publication did so on a freelance basis.

Hartman said she plans to shift her focus to a company she grew alongside the magazine, Grand Valley Custom Publishing. The company produces glossy printed materials for organizations. The company has produced guides and brochures for businesses and organizations such as West Star Aviation and the Grand Junction Economic Partnership.

Hartman will continue to serve on the GJEP and John McConnell Math and Science Center of Western Colorado boards and work on Discovery 9 Networks, an economic enrichment group she started that soon will expand with more chapters in Western Slope counties and into Wyoming.

Loyal readers and a talented magazine staff will be hard to leave behind, Hartman said.

“Even though it was a costly venture for me, I have to say I would do it again,” she said. “I think our community needed it. I think all of us involved needed it, and it was an incredible three years.”